January 3, 2026 a thought for the day, Don't throw away your old shoes till you have got new ones. Dutch Proverb

Photos in my life yesterday

This challenge was titled “excitement”. All of the lights and family and gift are exciting for the young and the old who also enjoy memories. All of this contributing to the excitement of one baby’s birth. 

Next is “snow”. This is one of the many patches of snow on the ground this day. This one in my back yard with bits of grass showing through

The last challenge title is “my word for the year”, love. This is an image of my grand son holding with love the photo of his US Marine father. Love is my word for the year, love for the world , for families and for our Savior.

Life today. New Years Day when I went to lunch with Lowell and family there was ice on the porch and steps. We needed something put on it to keep from slipping and falling. All we had on hand at the time was kitty litter. I thought I had learned my lesson last year when I used that “trick”. I regretted that. When Sweet Pea came in there were paw prints through out the kitchen and had to scrape it off. Anyway the same affect of clumping and hardening occurred this year. Lesson learned (I hope). Lowell came over last night with a shop vac and rubber scrapper to get it off the steps and porch. Before that Sue had gone out to get meds. When she came back in she had hard “mud” on her shoes and walker wheels. She had to take her shoes off outside. Lowell came over last night with a shop vac and rubber scrapper to get it off the steps and porch. It took over half an hour to do it.

We don’t have snow or rain today but we do have below freezing temps. That brings to mind a Christmas gift I got this year. It is a wearable blanket hoodie sweatshirt. Yummmm is it ever nice and warm. I just tired it on this morning. I will most likely have it on every day through the rest of this season when the temps outside are below freezing. In my case it came with new slippers too.

This grocery curb side pick up is home but not put away yet. That’s next on the agenda. Then I have a couple of things I want to try baking.  One of them is drying flour tortillas into seasoned strips. I am going to use them instead of french fires and other snack substitutes. I also found a recipe that fits my “three way health” diet. It is a sugar free cream cherry pie (doesn’t sound to “diety” does it?). I don’t know if I will have time to do both today. If not tomorrow.

The word today is proceed.  Nature does not proceed by leaps. Linnaeus. Man can learn nothing unless he proceeds from the known to the unknown. Claude Bernard. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4. All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason. Immanuel Kant.  This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. Isaac Newton. Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater. Epictetus. While the soul is in mortal sin, nothing can profit it; none of its good works merit an eternal reward, since they do not proceed from God as their first principle, and by Him alone is our virtue real virtue. Saint Teresa of Avila.  Every man's reputation proceeds from those of his own household. Marcus Tullius Cicero. Although nature commences with reason and ends in experience it is necessary for us to do the opposite, that is to commence with experience and from this to proceed to investigate the reason. Leonardo da Vinci. The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living. Thomas Hobbes. The greatest part of intimate confidences proceed from a desire either to be pitied or admired. Francois de La Rochefoucauld. Those who would wage war, should first eliminate all domestic enemies before proceeding to attack the external foe. Sun Tzu. 

Article summary. I am interested in ways and things that “restore” or reuse something old rather than letting it go unused or thrown away without trying to save.  That’s why this article title caught my attention. That title is How abandoned land can power a fair energy transition. Harry Radzuan, Lecturer in Project Management, London South Bank University; University of Manchester. At conversation.com. The article started out by bringing up the fact that many “households” experience keeping their homes heated. After mentioning that it goes on to the plan by some thinkers of using “disused lands” for setting up methods of energy sources. The author calls these  unused lands “brownfield sites”. He, the author, suggests that some of these “brownfields” are “fenced off, contaminated or derelict” giving the impression they are areas of neglect apparently not being considered for “renewal”. He suggests there is a team considering how they could be used for solar power equipment, wind turbines and/or heat pumps. At the same time these processes would not only contribute to renewable energy but could “cut carbon footprint”. I learned that in 1999 a business called Brightfields Imitative have done just that, “converted disused industrial sites” into solar farms. The areas mentioned were California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York and Virginia. These resources could serve in renewable energy to much needed low income households. These methods could be a way to offering more affordable energy sources. The use of unused and abandoned land can “revitalise the land, create jobs and improve local wellbeing.” The article goes on to say that redevelopment of the land would not be simple. It would involve cleaning up contamination, following regulations and financing “challenges”. It would take legal policies and community participation leading to cleaner air, safer neighborhoods and increase property values.

I’m not sure what dinner will be tonight, something for fit my three way health diet. Maybe ground chicken croquets.

Photos in my life today 

My first challenge was “a new habit”. I got a wearable hood blanket for Christmas . I wore today for the first time. It is like a full body hug. It I soooo warm, perfect for these below freezing days.

Next is “macro”. Bobbi is being a model for me again, she doesn’t seem to mind the way Sweet Pea did. This is a good shot of her tiny pink nose. 

Last is one of the “my choice” and is one of my series of “in camera filters”. It was taken of two customers at Kroger as they passed by my car. 

Joy

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